Are We Socially Ready For Wearable Computing? 214
An anonymous reader writes "Smart watches have arrived, and Google Glass is on its way. As early-adopters start to gain some experience with these devices, they're learning some interesting lessons about how wearable computing affects our behavior differently from even smartphones and tablets. Vint Cerf says, 'Our social conventions have not kept up with the technology.' Right now, it's considered impolite to talk on your cellphone while checking out at the grocery store, or to ignore a face-to-face conversation in favor of texting somebody. But 20 years ago, those actions weren't even on our social radar. Wearable devices create some obvious social problems, like the aversion to Glass's ever-present camera. But there are subtler ones, as well, for which we'll need to develop another set of social norms. A Pebble smart watch user gave an example: 'People thought I was being rude and checking the time constantly when I was really monitoring incoming messages. It sent the wrong signal.' The article continues, 'Therein lies the wearables conundrum. You can put a phone away and choose not to use it. You can turn to it with permission if you're so inclined. Wearables provide no opportunity for pause, as their interruptions tend to be fairly continuous, and the interaction is more physical (an averted glance or a vibration directly on your arm). It's nearly impossible to train yourself to avoid the reflex-like response of interacting. By comparison, a cell phone is away (in your pocket, on a table) and has to be reached for.'"
Form Factor (Score:5, Interesting)
I think it's all about the form factor, and Google has gotten it wrong with Google Glass. IMO, the best possible form factor for wearable computing is that of a wrist watch. Even in that regard, companies like Samsung have still gotten it wrong, and for the exact opposite reason that Google has gone wrong.
Glasses are essentially a display device. They should be an I/O type peripheral, but Google made them the heart of the system. They can't be anything but glasses, on your face, obvious to everyone, with a camera sitting there pointing at everyone, drawing suspicion about what is being recorded or what you might be seeing, etc. They should not be the core of the system, but a peripheral to be used only when needed for those specific functions.
Now take Samsung's watch. It SHOULD be the core of the system. It should have your CPU, storage, networking, etc, because it is a non-invasive device that billions of people are already used to wearing all day every day. It is the optimum form factor for having with you all the time everywhere you go (even while swimming, etc). But instead they made it a mere peripheral for their phones / tablets.
The watch should be the core of the system. You can do simple tasks with its small display, it can vibrate in different places (on the bottom of the band, in the watch, etc) in different patterns that could communicate a variety of things without any annoying sound effects (since it's on the wrist the vibration could be very light, unlike a cell phone which has to be felt through clothing, etc). Then if you need a bigger display, you grab a tablet IO device (a mere wireless peripheral for IO for your watch), or a device like Google Glass, or you simply output media from your watch to the nearest TV, etc.
Anyway, IMO I think everyone is getting it totally backwards when it comes to wearable computing devices.
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:The wrong signal? (Score:4, Interesting)
Some people won't stop, it's as though it's wired into their brains and everything else is second if not third.
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Re:Form Factor (Score:4, Interesting)
Not a bad analysis, but I think it misses something. Right now, the watch phones have too poor a battery life to have significant processing power. The watch might make a decent display, but that's about all it can do with any quality. So it's in the same realm as the glasses.
We're going to need person-area networks. Put a big battery and a powerful computer system in your pocket, have it connect to the watch and glasses for user I/O. Problem is, at that point you may as well slap a screen on the computer part, and then you've got a full smartphone, which reduces the necessity of the other two.
Will we ever truly be ready? (Score:4, Interesting)
Seriously, though. My fellow workers and I refer to most folks walking by, obliviously texting away as "Pod-People". Many of them with ear buds (or even huge, bulky headphones) to emphasize their wanting not to hear you. People aren't truly in tune with proper social behavior with cell phones/smart phones and constant (albeit intermittent) communications now. If a device (any device) makes it even more of an attention hog than it has already become, then people are going to start walking into traffic (even more than they already do). Many people today are already texting people they are physically standing beside as a method of "whispering" things clandestinely, no matter how rude it really is. People are already getting fully absorbed in their smart phones to the point of not knowing how to hold a coherent conversation over a meal. All this will simply be compounded with the more pervasive devices. It's only a matter of time before Google Glass becomes outright illegal to use while driving. It's bad enough that people think that having their smart phone in their lap while driving is acceptable and considered safe, despite being illegal in many places. What is it going to take before people start taking serious offense at others' smart device use in public places? Not serving people while they are on their phone is a decent start. After all, how rude is it to be expecting someone else to give you proper attention to serve you, and you can't even be bothered to pay enough attention to get the amount of you bill right? Little wonder why many employers have effectively banned smart phone use while at work, particularly in the service and hospitality industry. How far will it go? Extremism exists, and will manifest itself on both sides of this topic. Mark my works: It Will Get Ugly!